Value of Biodiversity-Consumptive Use (productive use, several ethical, aesthetic and option values)

Conservation of biodiversity, at global level, is associated in terms of many. It raises pertinent questions as to how much it will cost. In terms of domain of Economics it is concerned with the value of biodiversity. In other words, one has to decide the value of a species to be conserved also the amount money needs for conservation of the components of biodiversity.

For this purpose, a number of proposals have been made to assign economic values to genetic variation, species communities and ecosystem. Such values include the market place value of resources the value for unharnessed resources in their natural state as well as the future value of the source. The economic values are of the different types mentioned as follows:

1. Direct Values:

Depending upon the products harvested by people.

2. Indirect Values:

Depending upon the benefits provided by biodiversity but that involving harvesting.

Direct values can be further divided as follows:

(i) Consumptive Values:

Depending upon assigning to goods such as fuel wood that are locally consumed and not at national and international level.

(ii) Productive use Values:

Assigning to products that are harvested from the wild and sold in commercial market both at national and international level.

Indirect values are assigned to biodiversity which provide benefits to people without consumption of the resources benefits are water quality, soil protection, recreation, education, scientific research, regulation of climate and producing future opinion for human society. Indirect values are further divided as follows:

(a) Non-consumptive use Values:

This depends upon ecosystem productivity, protection of water resources, soil protection, climate regulation, waste disposal, species relationship, recreation and ecotourism, educational and scientific values, environmental monitoring etc.

(b) Option Values:

It is concerned with the value of a species, its potential to provide economic benefit to human society in the future. Biotechnology industry is finding new species to handle pollution and combat problem of cancer, AIDS etc.

(c) Existence Value:

It is concerned with protection of wildlife, charismatic animals such as lion, panda, birds etc. in direct way to contribute money to organizations.